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Entries in Cornerstone
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New Hampshire's Education Tax credit law remains in effect, helping New Hampshire students

For immediate releaseAugust 28, 2014

The New Hampshire Supreme Court today left the education tax credit law in place, in the case of Duncan et al. v. State of New Hampshire et al. Cornerstone's Executive Director Bryan McCormack had this to say about the decision.

"Every New Hampshire child has won today. In upholding the Education Tax Credit law, the New Hampshire Supreme Court has said 'yes' to a constructive partnership among families, innovative educators, and business owners who know that today's K-12 students are tomorrow's New Hampshire leaders. We have thought from the very beginning that this litigation was ill-advised. More businesses will now have the confidence to donate to a nonprofit scholarship organization, knowing that a tax credit is available. Today, New Hampshire's children from low- and middle-income families know that their education is no longer limited to a one-size-fits-all system. That's good news for New Hampshire."

Cornerstone Action and Cornerstone Policy Research are non-partisan, non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving New Hampshire’s traditional values, limited government, and free markets through education, information and advocacy. Our vision is to create an environment in which strong families—the foundation of our society—can lead New Hampshire into a new era of prosperity and strength. For more information, please visit nhcornerstone.org.

Bills harboring abortion and furthering the expansion of Medicaid (ObamaCare), as well as gambling, threaten the family values we strive to protect. It is the responsibility of the citizens of New Hampshire to weigh in on these issues, to ensure that our legislature knows where its constituents stand. Here is some information on these issues and what YOU can do to have an effect on the outcome.

Medicaid Expansion On Saturday, January 25 in Bedford, Senator Samborn will be hosting an event to help us stop Medicaid expansion/ObamaCare. Even better – Senator Rand Paul will be joining us via Skype!Stop ObamaCare Town Hall and Training SessionSaturday, January 25 at 4 PM Eastern Manchester Country Club 180 South River Road Bedford, NH 03110 RSVP here The ObamaCare expansion will wreck New Hampshire’s finances, force an income or general sales tax on Granite State citizens, and make ObamaCare a reality.But you can help stop ObamaCare. The Republican majority in the Senate can kill the bill and protect you from the health care takeover. This training session will teach you how to win.RSVP to join Rand Paul and Andy Samborn to Stop the ObamaCare expansion!

Expanded Gambling Gambling is a high priority issue in New Hampshire’s legislative agenda for this year. Governor Hassan has a glaring 75 million dollar hole in the budget, which she plans to fill with a massive casino in Salem New Hampshire. It is clear what harmful effects gambling can have on an individual and a family. However, there are far more dangers to New Hampshire families than simply the addiction to gambling. These dangers can be seen here on the coalition’s web page. I encourage you to peruse the site and see how detrimental the casino will be for families here in New Hampshire. I also implore you to get involved, you can make an immeasurable difference in this fight! Click on this link to find your legislator. Email Brian Beihl with your legislator’s name. He will provide you with subject matter to effectively approach your representatives and help us keep the casino out of New Hampshire!

Battle for Life The abortion reporting statistics bill, mentioned in our last update, has moved into subcommittee. The hearing had a lot of support and we as an organization plan to be even more active in the subcommittee, keep us in your prayers as we approach the upcoming hearing.

This upcoming week we will be working against a proposed buffer-zone bill SB319-FN. This bill,

“Provides certain parameters for access to reproductive health care facilities. The bill establishes a civil fine and authorizes the attorney general or county attorney to seek injunctive relief in certain circumstances.” (SB 319)

With this provision, the parameters outside Planned Parenthood facilities will be extended to keep out those who fight for life. We need your support in numbers on this one. The more people we have in person at the state house for this hearing the greater the impact. This is an infringement on our 1st amendment rights, and a direct attack on those who fight for the lives of the unborn. Come join us and lift our team up in your prayers on,

Families First Pledge Signers Supported By Cornerstone Action PAC Did Better than Republicans As a Whole

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Cornerstone’s Families First Pledge signers did better than Republicans as a group in Tuesday’s election, proving that voters did not reject the ideas Cornerstone is advancing and instead reacted to the Democrats’ successful effort to mislead voters and the Republicans’ failure to define how they would pursue pro-family issues in office.

“Cornerstone was acting in near isolation in New Hampshire promoting the issues of life, liberty of conscience, parental rights and the importance of supporting the nuclear family as the foundational building block of society, and candidates were left to fend for themselves when trying to define how reasonable and necessary these issues are,” said Shannon McGinley, Cornerstone’s acting executive director. “The Democratic Party incorrectly described these reasonable ideas as extreme, and the Republican Party agreed with these terms by ignoring the attacks and letting the Democrats’ definitions stick. As a result, the people rejected the party that failed to define these issues in favor of the one that did, however incorrectly.

“At the same time, Cornerstone can legitimately say that informed voters who the organization was able to reach absolutely favored Families First Pledge signers, because they know the ideas in the pledge are not just reasonable, they’re essential to maintaining freedom and prosperity in their state,” McGinley added. “Our Families First General Election Voter Guide was successful, despite the impact of wave voters.”

Cornerstone elected 65 of the candidates who signed the Families First Pledge or who were featured in a Candidate Cornerarticle, 45 percent of the total candidates in this category. Even more impressive, 61 of those 65 candidates were elected to the N.H. House and that’s 48 percent of the total candidates in this category. Only 44 percent of the N.H. House is now represented by Republican members, and 35 percent of them openly supported Cornerstone’s issues. Looking at pledge signers alone, Cornerstone elected 55 to the House, or 49 percent of those who signed the pledge. Compare that to Republicans’ 176 winners, or 48 percent of all the candidates who ran under the GOP banner. Meanwhile, the percentage of Republican losers was precisely the same as the percentage of Cornerstone pledge signers or supported candidates who lost, meaning that Cornerstone’s issues were not a factor in their loss.

“I want to be the first one to warn the Republican Party about what course of action they take next,” McGinley said. “Republicans failure on Tuesday was not due to conservative, pro-family values, it was due to the party’s failure to properly address these issues and explain them to voters through their top-ticket candidates. If Republicans continue to ignore social issues as they did this election, these social issues will continue to be defined incorrectly by the Democrats for political advantage, whether Republicans like it or not.

“Cornerstone will continue to advocate for pro-family candidates in both parties, and we will continue to advance policies that protect innocent life, preserve liberty of conscience, emphasize the importance of the traditional family, restore parental rights and enact free market economic principles that operate independent of a limited, smaller government,” McGinley continued. “We hope that the Republican and Democratic parties come to their senses and help us advance these very American ideals, but if they do not, we will continue to advance them despite the efforts of the parties to ignore or diminish them.”

With election results in hand, Cornerstone will be working over the next several weeks with elected pledge signers and other supported winners to advance its Families First Legislative Agenda during the upcoming bill signing period. Clearly, Cornerstone does not expect to pass many of the policies in its agenda over the next two years, but we do intend to build a case for them so the people will truly understand where we’re coming from when the 2014 elections come around. Cornerstone will pursue every policy that has a chance of success and will count on its elected pledge signers and other supported winners to introduce these bills and advance their purpose.

“The time for Republicans to wake up is now,” McGinley said. “This is not a time to abandon principle but a time to stand by it and convince the people why it is the best way forward for our state. We think that effort will be successful come 2014.”

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About Cornerstone ActionCornerstone-Action and Cornerstone Policy Research are non-partisan, non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving New Hampshire’s traditional values, limited government, and free markets through education, information and advocacy. Our vision is to create an environment in which strong families—the foundation of our society—can lead New Hampshire into a new era of prosperity and strength. For more information, please visit nhcornerstone.org.

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Cornerstone Action PAC launched a statewide radio ad that is airing now through Election Day to highlight Maggie Hassan’s focus on an extreme social agenda rather than the issues that matter to voters.

The ad, called “Fringe” (listen to the ad on YouTube), highlights a number of extreme positions taken by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Maggie Hassan while she was president of the N.H. Senate. It continues by reminding voters about Maggie Hassan’s apparent obsession with social issues during her campaign for governor. On the other hand, the ad reminds voters how Republican gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne has been focused on his plan to stimulate the economy and restore job growth and development in New Hampshire.

“Since announcing her candidacy for governor, Maggie Hassan has been obsessed with social issues and she has talked about very little else,” said Shannon McGinley, Cornerstone’s acting executive director. “This should come as no surprise to voters who followed Maggie’s career in the State Senate. During that time, Maggie aligned herself on the fringe side of many social issues by repealing the state’s common sense parental notification law, passing a law to permit gay ‘marriage’ and advancing the infamous transgender ‘bathroom bill’.

“Voters who are concerned about jobs and the economy should remember Maggie’s failure to deliver when she was given the chance, McGinley added. “Maggie’s extreme social agenda was more important to her then, and it still appears to be more important to her now.

“On the other hand, Ovide Lamontagne has remained focused on jobs and the economy during his campaign,” McGinley continued. “Ovide has outlined a very specific plan that would deliver on these critically important issues, despite Maggie’s attempts to distract him.”

About Cornerstone Action and Cornerstone Action PACCornerstone-Action and Cornerstone Policy Research are non-partisan, non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving New Hampshire’s traditional values, limited government, and free markets through education, information and advocacy. Our vision is to create an environment in which strong families—the foundation of our society—can lead New Hampshire into a new era of prosperity and strength. Cornerstone Action PAC is Cornerstone’s political action committee, which supports candidates who uphold traditional American values. For more information, please visit nhcornerstone.org.

Voter Guide Lists Incumbent Scores, Families First Pledge Signers To Help Voters Find Pro-Family Candidates In Each District

MANCHESTER, N.H.—Thousands of copies of Cornerstone’s Families First General Election Voter Guide are presently arming New Hampshire voters with the information they’ll need to support conservative candidates who will be dedicated to protecting traditional values and the natural rights of families once they are elected into office.

Cornerstone mailed and e-mailed information about its Families First General Election Voter Guide to thousands of Cornerstone supporters in New Hampshire all throughout last week, and the guide is now available to everyone on Cornerstone’s Web site as a digital file or as a printed document upon request.

“With so many candidates running for office in new voting districts this election cycle, voters have welcomed Cornerstone’s general election voter guide as refreshingly helpful as they consider how to cast their votes on Election Day,” said Shannon McGinley, Cornerstone’s acting executive director. “It can sometimes be very difficult to track down all the conservatives who will always put traditional family values first upon their election, and our guide attempts to make that task easier for voters.”

The guide includes key positions on issues important to families for each of the Republican and Democratic candidates for president, congressman and governor as well as an account of whether state representative, state senator and executive councilor candidates have signed Cornerstone’s Families First Pledge, regardless of party. Additionally, the guide lists Cornerstone 2011-2012 Legislative Scorecard voting percentages for all incumbent legislative candidates to show how closely they aligned with Cornerstone’s agenda in the last term. It also features a section that helps voters identify their voting districts.

“We’re confident that voters will identify the top-scoring incumbents and Families First Pledge signers in their districts and enthusiastically head to the polls to make sure the next Legislature and the governor can work together to advance the successes of the past two years,” McGinley said. “We’ve added information about national candidates’ positions to help voters ensure our next congressional delegation and president also keep the interests of New Hampshire families in mind.”

Pledge signers indicated on the voter guide have promised to support bills or initiatives that advance citizens’ rights of conscience and religion, protect innocent human life, defend the natural family and traditional marriage, restore the natural rights of parents to raise, educate and care for their own children, and enact free market economic policies to ensure prosperity in New Hampshire. Since releasing its Families First Pledge in July, more than 125 candidates for offices at all levels have signed the pledge. Cornerstone intends to work with the pledge signers who win their elections during the next two years and expects these officials to support the initiatives listed in Cornerstone’s Families First Legislative Agenda, which is based on the pledge.

Cornerstone’s Families First General Election Voter Guide is a follow-up guide to its 2012 Primary Voter Guide, but it is far more comprehensive in that it includes federal candidates as well as candidates from both major political parties as well as undeclared candidates. The primary guide listed only Republicans running for state offices, because only Republican candidates had signed Cornerstone’s Families First Pledge at the time. As of today, there still hasn’t been a Democratic candidate willing to sign Cornerstone’s Families First Pledge; however, at least one undeclared candidate has signed the pledge. Because Cornerstone is a nonpartisan organization, the General Election Voter Guide lists candidates regardless of political party and provides the information voters will need to determine whether each candidate supports Cornerstone’s policy goals or not.

“It is extraordinarily disappointing that not one Democrat was courageous enough to sign our pledge and stand against the radically liberal social agenda that dominates the Democratic Party,” McGinley said. “We hope pro-family Democrats will increasingly become appalled by the message of some of their more liberal colleagues and work to drive their party closer to the more moderate center in the future, which traditionally supports family values.

“Similarly, it is disappointing that so many Republicans ignored our Families First Pledge,” McGinley added. “We hope that the same radicals who are leading the Democrats do not take hold in the Republican Party. Everyone should know that traditional families are the very foundation of society, and without strong supports to protect family values, society will fall apart.”

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About Cornerstone ActionCornerstone-Action and Cornerstone Policy Research are non-partisan, non-profit organizations dedicated to preserving New Hampshire’s traditional values, limited government, and free markets through education, information and advocacy. Our vision is to create an environment in which strong families—the foundation of our society—can lead New Hampshire into a new era of prosperity and strength. For more information, please visit nhcornerstone.org.